Kesterson: a Microcosm of Government Corruption [tem] by D.A. Tuma

Tragic insensitivity

Environmental socialist blindness to human suffering from drainage regulation is the same tragic insensitivity of Bosnian blindness to human suffering in Kosovo. War is hell. We entered our environmental socialist/communist hell through the breach of property rights at Kesterson. We can get out the same way we came in. By leaving through Kesterson. Leaving it the way it was before its property rights were breached. And we can limit future assaults on human morality by limiting the capacity of a few men and women in government power to enslave us in the name of any desirable outcome.

Kings lead us to war

Now we have a single person, King Bill, spending without authorization our nation's war power to rain death and desolation on people in a far away land. A futile and brutal arrogance to assume world domination, in the name of saving the world from ethnic cleansing. His would-be successor, a future King Al, would save the world for ecological balance. All he has to do to fill his crusade with troops is to mesmerize our eyes with pictures of deformed Kesterson bird embryos. Unless we deny him the chief office to government command.

Freedom to associate

We got alternatives. We might think of more later on if we keep thinking about it. And as a nation that's wired and wireless electronically, I think our communication is in good shape. I like what I read by Libertarian authors. It is a wonderful reality check. And it is that even to those who choose to be drug free. Or they wouldn't be in the Libertarian Party. Political parties are just another way for people to come together, like unions, churches, fraternal organizations, and corporations. These are voluntary associations of free people. I think the CVRWQCB, if it were a private corporation, could extend its "freedom to associate" relationship-a non-violent, voluntary relationship-which it shares with its own shareholders. It would be free to choose how much it wishes to associate with other people, including Porgans.

Wisdom proportional to portfolio: wisdom weighted votes

A private CVRWQCB could share its "freedom to associate" to anybody else as a reflection of how its shareholders want to do business. And that reflection is based on value times opinion. There is a presumption that wisdom is directly proportional to total portfolio size. That is why Ted Turner is interesting. What has he done? From the reports I've read, he's one of the largest landowners in America. Unless he has since given it all to the United Nations, he's probably got land in every state of the nation.

Now I'm pretty sure Ted Turner is not ever going to trash his own property. I trust him. Why? He's had some success in business. You don't have success without trust. I trust Ted Turner to care for his property without asking for a signed document. I just honor his right to manage his own property. And if I see he doesn't take good care of his property, and I really cared, I'd be out beating up some public support to buy his property, not with federal funds (like Headwaters Grove) but with philanthropic funds-either for direct ownership or donation to a charitable organization, like the Sierra Club.

Wouldn't it be nice if some philanthropist buys the Grand Canyon at some future federal auction and gives it to the Sierra Club? Alternatively, someone else could buy it for some other use than aesthetic enjoyment. But if the Sierra Club was the owner, it wouldn't have to worry about any dams in the canyon. The Sierra Club could just put up a "no trespassing" sign and threaten to "prosecute to the fullest extent of the law." And because we like property rights, we would have very stiff laws against trespass.

Those of us who are not Sierra Club sympathizers should expect to hear less whining. If we ever really want to put dams in the Grand Canyon, we can make a trade with the Sierra Club. We can give it something it wants more than its ownership of potential reservoir sites in the Canyon. After all shouldn't the Sierra club represent the opinions of its membership? Shouldn't its membership have a choice?

Immigration quotas

Well, The Sierra Club opinion is not share weighted. So there is no presumption of a wisdom weighted vote. In fact, the Sierra Club took a vote among its membership, sometime ago, over tightening immigration quotas. Quotas. Now, there is a fascist idea. The fact that the vote was held indicated a lot of confusion about priorities. Wildlife or people?

If the vote was to be wisdom weighted by shareholder vote, this evidence of a large xenophobic sentiment in the Sierra Club might not have been evident. Because my guess is that business people-who are successful and wind up as large corporate shareholders-are not xenophobic. If they were, then they would be out-competed in a global market. That means a lot of Sierra Club members are genetically obnoxious. Maybe they are just young and spoiled.

Young, ignorant ingrates

Their young lives have been successful so far by crying for what they want. They are our elite spoiled brats. The ignorant ingrates of our society. Well, ingrates have to be somewhere. They may as well be in the Sierra club so we can read what their young leadership writes and keep an eye on them. We would watch them like we would watch a horde of Mongols circling our Bohemian castle. We recognize them by their demented environmental socialist priority that puts humans last. When we read Porgans' petition, we recognize this assault on mankind.

What can be done

We have alternatives. We should know the fate of mankind can rest in each of our individual decisions. We know we deprive our collective prosperity by suppressing individual decision-making and consequent opportunities for trade. We may be blind to a lot of what is going on around us. But by questioning mankind's fate and acknowledging our blindness, we begin to search for what can be done.

We can leave behind the frustration and angst of those who want to shut down San Joaquin Valley farms by offering an alternative attitude, well described in these lyrics by Paul Simon.

I don't believe what I read in the papers
They're just out to capture my dime.
I ain't worrying
And I ain't scurrying
I'm having a good time

Maybe I'm laughing my way to disaster
Maybe my race has been run
Maybe I'm blind
To the fate of mankind
But what can be done?

So God bless the goods we was given
And God bless the U.S. of A.
And God bless our standard of livin'
Let's keep it that way
And we'll all have a good time.

Part 10